Grain unloader



March 4, 1947. H. L. SHUGART GRAIN UNLOADER Filed Sept. 4, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mardi 4, 1947 H; L. sHuGAR-r 2,417,020

GRAIN -UNLOADER Filed sept. 4, 1945 2 Sheets-sheet 2 J6 fwggk r ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 4, 1947 GRAIN UNLOADER Hardie Lee Shugart, Oklahoma City, Okla., as-

signor oi' one-half to Ed. Reynolds, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application September 4, 1945, Serial No. 614,387

6 Claims. (Cl. 214-83) My invention relates to apparatus for handling grain, and more particularly to mechanism for moving grain from an automotive truck body to an elevated opening in a storage bin.

Most farm granaries or storage bins have' their intake openings located a few feet above the platform level of the average truck, and therefore, a usual dump truck offers no help in filling the bins. rI"he result is that the' grain is usually shoveled in manually from the `truck to the bins.

The prime 'object of the present invention is to provide grain handling apparatus which will move grain from a truck body into an elevated opening in the bin, and which is powered lby the truck engine.

In carrying outthe invention, a tubular body,

which houses a spiral conveyor, is used for eley vating the grain from the truck to the bin. Since most of the bin openings are above the tops of the usual granary doors, the conveyor is too tall to pass through the average doors.

It is therefore the object of the invention to provide as a part of the apparatus, an elevator which may be bodily removed from the vehiclev without the use of any tools.

A further object is to provide aremovable elevating apparatus which may be removed from or installed upon the apparatus by one person.

Another object is to provide a single apparatus for the purposes described, which may be installed upon standard trucking equipment with a minimum of labor and other expense.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying two sheets of drawings, wherein;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus operatively installed upon the truck, the truck.

being shown indottcdlines;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the elevatingr portion of the 'device raised a short distance above. its supporting portion thereof; and, Figure 3 is a verticalsectional view through the lower end of the elevator and detailing its driving arrangement.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in all of the'ilgures wherein they occ'ur.

In the drawings: j The reference numeral I indicates, as a whole,

' a typical automotive truck, including: a usual cab 2 having a horizontal step 3; a box-like body 4 supported uponua usual vehicle frame of-which a horizontal beam 5 forms a part; and rear wheels 6 for reliably lsupporting the rear end of the beam ii. The body 4 has a 4flat bottoml 1, aver-V '2 tical front end wall 8. walls 9 and I0, and a rear wall I I.

The particular-arrangement of the truck parts is not a portion of the present invention, but merely form the structure upon which the device, Der se, is installed. Portions of the truck do not appear in the drawings, but the elements indicated by the-reference numerals I and II inclusive constitute the truck portions with which the apparatus is Aclosely associated.

The invention, per se, includes: l

A horizontally disposed shaft 20 having a toothed gear 2| Vbetween the rear wall of the cab and the front end 8 thereof, and having a pulley 22 0n its rear end. The shaft 20 is journalled for rotation in bearings, not shown, carried bcneath the floor 'I of the body 4, and its extreme front en'd portion 23 extends beyond the gear 2l and -is driven to rotation by a switchable power conveyor housingr24, having an enlarged por-v tion 25 which tapersdownwardly and terminates in an annular forwardly projecting flange 26.

The forwarding end of the housing 24 extends a short distance beyond the front end 8 of the truck bodyand is rigidly connectedto the body by any suitable means, such as a bracket 21. The rear end of conveyor housing 24 is rigidly held at the side of the body 4 by two spaced arms 28 vwhich extend through the side I0 and along the nether surface of the body floor "l. The floor fl has a cut-out opening 29 between the arms 28, and4 the space between the arms is floored with sheet metal toform a chute 30 leading into an upper opening 3i in the conveyor hou'sing 24.' v l Rotatably mounted in the housing `24 and extending for substantially the entire length thereof, is al usual spiral conveyor` 32. The rear end of the shaf t of the conveyor 4projects beyond the closed end 33 of the housing ,'24, and a pulley 34 is mounted rigidly upon this projecting end. As a means for driving the pulley 34, ythe frame No. 5 is equipped with a rigid bracket 35` having two vertical parallel sides 36 and 31. A rotatable .shaft 38 is journalled in the bracket sides, and

two parallel vertical sidev truck. y As a means for driving the shaft 48,. the front the shaft 38, when the shaft 20 is rotated by the vehicle motor as above described.

When the spiral conveyor is rotating. grain from the truck body 4.wi1l travel by gravity along the chute 30 to the conveyor housing. and will lbe discharged by the conveyor at the .enlarged forward end of the housing.

Surrounding approximately one hundred and eight degrees on the lower half of the flange 26 of the housing 24. is an inwardly projecting arcuate flange 43. The flange 43 is adapted to removably receive, and to retain in operative position, a grain elevator mechanism 44 for elevating grain from the front end-of the housing 24 to a granary inlet opening.

The mechanism 44 includes:

A substantially dome-shaped drum 45 having a closed end 2B, and having its other end open.

The open end is surrounded by an outwardly projecting annular flange 41 which is equal in outside diameter to the outside diameter of the flange 26 of the conveyor housing 24. The flange 41 is adapted to seat within the arcuate flange 43 and to register in ilat end-to-end contact with the flange 25. The flange 43 act-s to removably retain the drum 45 in position to completely close the forward end of the conveyor housing 24, and also acts to permit rotative action of the drum therein.

The closed end 46 of the drum` 45 is perforated to receive a -suitable bearing, not shown, which journals for rotation a horizontal shaft 48. Rigidly keyed to the shaft 48, is a small toothed gear 49 and a larger gear 5|). Welded or otherwise rigidly connected to the end 46 of the drum 45 is the lower end of a hollow tubular conveyor housing I has a side opening 10 next to the drum. and the drum has a similar opening, not shown, to permit passage of grain from the drum to the housing 5|.v The drum 45 acts as a collector for receiving grain from the horizontal conveyor housing 24 and delivering it to the housing 5|.

As best illustrated in Fig. 3, the lower end of the housing 5I has a transverse closure or partition 52 which journals the lower end of the axle shaft 53 of a usual spiral conveyor 54. The shaft 53 projects downwardly thru the partition 52 and to its lower end is keyed a miter-gear 54. Opposite sides of the lower end of the housing 5I are alignedly perforated to rotatably receive a horizontal shaft 55 which has one end projecting outwardly from the housing. The shaftv55. within the housing 5| is keyed to a second miter-gear lwhich continuously meshes with the other miter-gear 54.

To the projecting end of the shaft 55 is `risidly keyed a. tooth-gear 51, which forms a Dortion oi' a drivingvtrain for driving the conveyor 54 from the above described horizontal shaft 20.

The open upper end of the conveyor housing 5| is bridged by a suitable spider 53 which journals the upper end of the conveyor shaft 53. An endless chain 55 envelopes the gears 53 and 51. The projecting end of the horizontal shaft 48 of the drum 45 is rotatably supported by a usual bearing 6l vwhich is carried by the upper end of a standard. 5| supported bythe step 3 of the end 3 of the truck body4 is equipped with a bearing bracket 62, which projects forwardly therefrom. and which journals for rotation the two ends of a horizontal jackshaft 53.

The shaft 63 has keyed`theret0 two genis 34 `and 55, the gear 64 being aligned with the gear 2| on the drive shaft 20, and the gear- 5 5 being aligned with the gear 49 on the horizontal drum shaft 48.k The bracket 62 is vertically adjustable through action of set-nuts 55. An endless chain 61 envelopes the two gears 2l and 84, and a similar chain 63 offers driving connection between the two' gears 85 and 43.

In operation, the truck motor is started and drives the shaft20 to rotation. The grain in th body '4 Passes through the chute 30 to thev rear end of the conveyor housing 24, and is carried by the conveyor32 to the collector 45. 'I'he shaft 20 also drives the conveyor 5| through action of the gears 2|', 34, 65, 49, 50 Vand also 5I, and also through action of thel chains 51 and 55. The conveyor 54 lifts the grain from the collector 45 and discharges it at the open upper Aend of housing 5I.

'I'he housing 5| may, during operation, be tilted to any desiredy angle from the horizontal, since the ange'41 of the collector 45 is rotatable within the flange 43 of the conveyor housing 24.

The conveyor 5| is carried in a substantially vertical position during transportation. Its f ree end is therefore too high to enter many barn doors and granary doors, and most doors are too narrow to permit passage of the vehicle when the housing is dispo-sed in a laterally tilted position, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

On the other hand, many other commodities besides grain are transported in the average farm truck, and consequently the elevator is not needed on the truck at all times. i

When so desired, the conveyor housing 5I the conveyor 53, and the collector 45 with its accompanying shaft and gears, may all be removed as a unit without disturbing the chain 53. This is accomplished by merely raising the bearing' cap of the bearing 60, and manually liftingA the flange 41 out of the flange 43. 'I'he chain 65 is. of course. also removed.

It is thought that the above description and the accompanying drawing disclose a device capable of accomplishing all of the objects and purposes for which it is intended, and the operation thereofis clearly revealed. I y

Obviously-some changes in the construction shown and described could bemade without detrimentally affecting its practicability. I therefore do not wish to be confined only to the embodiment of the invention which is shown and described herein, further than I am limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

I. In apparatus of the class described. the combination with a motor driven vehicle having a body for carrying granular material, of: a spiral conveyor horizontally disposed along one side of said vehicle body; a chute leading to one end of the conveyor from the interior of the body; means associated with the motor of the vehicle for rotating the conveyor to move the material from the chute to the other end of the conveyor; a collector for receiving the material from the conveyor; a second spiral conveyor having its lower end communicating with the first conveyor for receiving the material therefrom; means for tiltably mounting the second conveyor; and driving connections from the motor to the second conveyor.

2. Mechanism as specified in claim l, in which the tiltable conveyor mounting includes: an

,a body for carrying granular material, of: a

spiral conveyor horizontally disposed along one side of said body; a chute leading to one end-of the conveyor from the interior of the body; means associated with the motor of the vehicle for rotating the conveyor to move the material from the chute to the other end of the conveyor; a collector for receiving the material from the conveyor; means for mounting the collector for partial rotation upon a horizontal axis; a second spiral conveyor having its lower end rigidly carried bythe collector for` receiving the material therefrom, said conveyor having an upper open end; and driving connections from the motor to the second conveyor, said collector mounting means including an annular flange onlthe collector; and an arcuate element on the first conveyor for seating the flange rotatably, the -upper portion of said'element being open so that the' collector may be freely lifted therefrom.

4. As a. sub-combination in apparatus of the class described, an yadjustable pitch elevating conveyor and mounting therefor, including: a'

substantially cup-shaped material collector having an annular flange surrounding its rim; a. tubularhousing having one open end rigidly attached to the collector, said housing extending at right angles to the axis of said flange and communicating with the interior of the collector; a spiral conveyor rotatably mounted within the housing; and a rigid mounting means for rotatably envelopingthe major portion of said ange. l

5. Structure as specified in claim 4, in which said mounting means includes: an arcuately groovcd element adapted to seat said ange and having its upper portion open so that the col- 4 lector may be freely lifted therefrom.

6. Structure as specified in claim 4, in which said mounting means includes: a rigidly mounted arcuate seat extending for approximately one hundred eighty degrees of a circle, said seat being grooved to receive and rotatably support said collector flange. arid having its upper portion open so that the collector and its flange may be freely lifted therefrom.

HARDIE LEE SHUGART. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED sTATEs PATENTS 

